LaVar Ball is a lot of things.
A helicopter parent, image obsessed and possibly delusional. Now you can add another qualifier, slightly sexist.
Ball appeared on Fox Sports’ The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday to talk about, among other things, the NBA Draft Lottery, son Lonzo’s chances of landing with the Lakers and of course Ball’s own apparel company, Big Baller Brand.
And like most conversations featuring the Ball patriarch, LaVar became the center of another controversy and added another entry to his list of head-scratching statements. It’s the topic of the infamous 3B shoe line where things went south for Ball.
When Cowherd’s co-host Kristine Leahy broached the topic of how many shoes the Big Baller Brand had sold, Ball snapped back telling Leahy to, “stay in your lane” before calling her a hater.
Leahy, who has made a successful career as a reporter was, rightfully, caught off guard.
And that’s when the conversation went off the rails. Leahy probed Ball about the “Baller” in Big Baller Brand and asked if maybe the term left women out of the buyer demographic.
Ball, historically open-to-criticism, answered to Cowherd saying, “I’m not friends with her… I don’t even see her.”
“I think in order to have a successful company, you’re going to have to have women who like your brand,” Leahy said.
“Uh, yeah, if you have a women’s company,” Ball chimed back, ever the charmer.
But it was when Ball seemingly gave Leahy a veiled threat after the co-host accused her of not respecting women.
“I never disrespect women, but I tell you what, if you act like that, guess what, something’s coming to them, and that’s okay,” Ball said.
Ball has made a “career” out of responding to criticism since becoming basketball’s most recognizable parent. But it’s safe to say his latest antics went a little too far.
Regardless of whether or not you feel like Ball was sincere when telling a sports talk show host that something is coming her way, you have to feel a little uneasy with Ball’s reaction.
Leahy’s arguments had merit and are quite tame compared to the criticism that lies in wait for the Ball family once Lonzo Ball finally steps on to an NBA court.
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What was originally supposed to be a conversation about shoes and Lonzo Ball’s draft destination, a future that appears to have Ball’s preferred Los Angeles Lakers on the horizon, the conversation turned into the LaVar Ball show.
A show that is becoming more-and-more regular and more-and-more tedious.